I need a drill

[reluctant-builder]

I will probably not do more than drill pilot holes for my pickguard screws and tuning machine screws, and holes for my fingers in things like the attached. The finger holes in the knuckles were made with a Ryobi hand drill with a nickel-cadmium battery. Seemed like a pretty capable drill, and it's what I'm thinking of buying for my guitar drilling needs. I don't have ready access to the drill because it's a $20 round-trip train ride away, and if I were to make even two trips, I'd rather put that $40 towards tools of my own.

Also, I don't have a vise. Is there a way, without a vise, to hold fast the neck for drilling tuning machine screw pilot holes ... or should I just buy one, too. God knows where I'd even affix the thing.

 

[mayfly]

a cordless drill will do for the bulk of it.  You don't need a vice for holding the neck for tuner screw holds.  I only use a vice when installing threaded neck inserts ... and I use a drill press for that as well.

 

[Hbom]

I know it's the modern way to use a power drill for everything. And I admit to having used my dremel to drill pilot holes.
But when I really can't take a chance on making a mistake, I use my Stanley hand drill. It is slower but way more controllable.
I've had mine for a long time but they are readily available at the auction for under $20. Look for Stanley, Miller falls, Yankee or early Craftsman. Any of the 'egg  beater' types are all about the same. Just be sure you get one of the smaller models, as the chuck on the large ones may not take a #26 bit.

My 2 cents

 

[Cagey]

Cordless drill motors are ultra-handy, but if you only use them once in a blue moon the batteries will almost always be discharged when you grab the thing to do something. Even without being used, rechargeables will self-discharge. Let them go long enough, and they'll discharge to the point where they won't recharge. NiCads are the worst, NiMH are better, LIon are the best. This goes for just about any way you look at them. The batteries are also a large percentage of the cost of the drill motor. You can get a variable speed corded motor for about 1/3 the cost or less. So, that's something to keep in mind.

 

[mayfly]

Cordless drill motors are ultra-handy, but if you only use them once in a blue moon the batteries will almost always be discharged when you grab the thing to do something. Even without being used, rechargeables will self-discharge. Let them go long enough, and they'll discharge to the point where they won't recharge. NiCads are the worst, NiMH are better, LIon are the best. This goes for just about any way you look at them. The batteries are also a large percentage of the cost of the drill motor. You can get a variable speed corded motor for about 1/3 the cost or less. So, that's something to keep in mind.

You know, Cagey has a good point.  I have an excellent DeWalt cordless drill, with two battery packs.  About 4 years ago I was in construction project management and site supervision.  That little drill got used a lot and the batteries always held a good charge.  These days the things are always flat - especially annoying when I have a guitar I need to drill! 

I also have a DeWalt hammer drill (not cordless).  That sucker ALWAYS get's the job done 

 

[reluctant-builder]

That's a good point on the corded drill. I live in an apartment, so why the heck would I need to walk hither and yon unimpeded by a cord? I have an extension cord that would allow me to traipse about, anyway.

As for not needing a vise, how do you keep the neck steady when drilling the tuning machine holes? I've read that it's as delicate a process as brain surgery and I'd hate to drill at an angle or have the thing skitter away from me.

But when I really can't take a chance on making a mistake, I use my Stanley hand drill. It is slower but way more controllable.

When making those wooden knuckles, I used my great-grandfather's manual drill. It was shaped like a question mark, sort of, and while it was handy for starting holes, I found it wobbled a whole lot. So I finished the holes with the Ryobi. I'm pretty sure the thing was from the late 1800s, so it's a real antique, and newer hand drills are probably more stable, but it made me wary of using one for any seriously delicate work.

 

[Cagey]

Drill bits in general are very brittle and the bit you're going to use is fairly fine, so it's easy to break if you don't hold the drill motor square to the hole or if you put too much side force on it. But, it's not a big deal if you're aware of the issue ahead of time. Just be calm and don't manhandle the thing. Also, drilling all the way through the peghead is a tragedy, so you have to remember to mark the bit with a piece of tape or something so you know when to stop drilling any deeper.

Other than keeping those two things in mind, it's a cakewalk. No need for a vise or anything like that.

 

[Johnfv]

I have several drills (wired and cordless) but what gets the most use is my Dremel cordless (Lithium Ion). It does much more than drilling, I have even used it to enlarge a pickup route (with a routing attachment, I also have a cool right angle attachment for hard to get spots). It is not "heavy duty" but has done everything I need to assemble several guitars. The routing attachment also works as a mini drill press so I can make sure my holes are straight. I can go literally months between charges with the Lithium battery (I would avoid NiCd and even NiMh).
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=10.8V+Lithium-ion+Cordless

 

[reluctant-builder]

Thanks, again, for all the feedback; it's very helpful.

Would a drill with a 3/8" chuck suffice? Might I regret not getting on that can handle larger bits? As far as I can tell, the holes for a potentiometer need to be 3/8" ... but I wonder if the lesson I learned in wiring my guitar, about leaving ample wriggle room, applies here, too.

 

[mayfly]

Thanks, again, for all the feedback; it's very helpful.

Would a drill with a 3/8" chuck suffice? Might I regret not getting on that can handle larger bits? As far as I can tell, the holes for a potentiometer need to be 3/8" ... but I wonder if the lesson I learned in wiring my guitar, about leaving ample wriggle room, applies here, too.

3/8" chuck is probably fine.  You can get drill bits with reduced diameter shanks - so no problem with bits larger than that.

 

[Guitarfish]

Apologies for necro-posting but this is the best fit I can find. I'm also working out what tools I'll need for assembly, and thinking about pilot holes for the pick guard and tuners.

Current shortlist is an 'egg-beater' style hand drill (seem to be regularly available on eBay), a Dremel, or maybe one of these 'Archimedes drills':  http://www.amazon.com/Silverline-Archimedes-Drill-95mm/dp/B005DQA7MM

Anyone tried these for pilot holes?  I haven't 100% decided, but am tending towards a maple cap and neck if that makes a difference...

Edit: just realised that Archimedes drill only takes up to 1mm, which may not be big enough, but there are similar designs that take up to 2mm (approximately  #46), for example:  http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Archimedes-Push-Drill-CHUCK/dp/B003UBJG88/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_1

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I use an egg-beater drill for everything I can, so much more control and precision. Fine for pickguard screws, pin locators for tuners, jack plate attachment. I use a cordless drill for the strap holes. I never use a power screwdriver for anything guitar-related.

 

[tylereot]

Apologies for necro-posting but this is the best fit I can find. I'm also working out what tools I'll need for assembly, and thinking about pilot holes for the pick guard and tuners.

Current shortlist is an 'egg-beater' style hand drill (seem to be regularly available on eBay), a Dremel, or maybe one of these 'Archimedes drills':  http://www.amazon.com/Silverline-Archimedes-Drill-95mm/dp/B005DQA7MM

Anyone tried these for pilot holes?  I haven't 100% decided, but am tending towards a maple cap and neck if that makes a difference...

Edit: just realised that Archimedes drill only takes up to 1mm, which may not be big enough, but there are similar designs that take up to 2mm (approximately  #46), for example:  http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Archimedes-Push-Drill-CHUCK/dp/B003UBJG88/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_1

Man, I'd forgotten about my Dad's push drill until I saw those.  He used it for a lot of things.  It does take a little 'getting the hang of'.  He left me a 1960's vintage Craftsman corded power drill, which I still use for almost everything.  I've been through a couple of Porter Cable NiCad drills in the past few years, but the Craftsman just keeps going.

 

[AutoBat]

I have a fairly decent battery powered craftsman & an unbranded manual hand drill I got, as the ones to drill into skulls at the hospital are single-use items and are otherwise thrown away.

It's similar to this, except all black:

 

[hannaugh]

I had no idea Fiskars made drills. 

I use an egg-beater drill for everything I can, so much more control and precision. Fine for pickguard screws, pin locators for tuners, jack plate attachment. I use a cordless drill for the strap holes. I never use a power screwdriver for anything guitar-related.

+1  I have one of those hand powered drills as well, I use it for almost every hole I have to drill during assembly.  It makes me a lot less nervous about cracking the finish or breaking something. 

My mom recently bought this collection of antique stuff, and we found a really weird home made tiny little ?drill? from the
?1800s? in it.  Our guess is that it was a dental tool of some kind.  It is very strange.  :icon_scratch:

 

[Steve_Karl]

Apologies for necro-posting but this is the best fit I can find. I'm also working out what tools I'll need for assembly, and thinking about pilot holes for the pick guard and tuners.

Current shortlist is an 'egg-beater' style hand drill (seem to be regularly available on eBay), a Dremel, or maybe one of these 'Archimedes drills':  http://www.amazon.com/Silverline-Archimedes-Drill-95mm/dp/B005DQA7MM

Anyone tried these for pilot holes?  I haven't 100% decided, but am tending towards a maple cap and neck if that makes a difference...

Edit: just realised that Archimedes drill only takes up to 1mm, which may not be big enough, but there are similar designs that take up to 2mm (approximately  #46), for example:  http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Archimedes-Push-Drill-CHUCK/dp/B003UBJG88/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_1

My Dremel is awesome for doing small pilot holes. I just put some tape on the bit to mark the depth.
A great addition to the Dremel is a small chuck to hold small bits.

The Dremel has also been very handy for other tasks like:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=13745.0

 

[swarfrat]

Cordless, No batteries. Infinitely variable speed.

http://www.sears.com/tools-hand-tools-hand-drills-yankee-drills/s-1028732

 

[s1player]

I bought a Fiskar hand drill for drilling pilot holes for tuner mounting and possibly string trees. I wouldn't buy it again - I would be a higher end hand drill.

Couple problems with the Fiskar hand drill:

1. The chuck is hard to tighten. You tighten it by hand - holding the chuck and using the force of the crank. There is no tightening key for the chuck. So, if you drill bit gets "caught" or stuck in the hole, reversing the drill can result in loosening the chuck and leaving the drill bit in the hole. So, you have to take extra care to get the chuck tight AND to also ream out the holes a bit to prevent the bit from getting caught.

2. Small drill bits do not self center in the chuck! Since guitars have a lot of pilot holes to drill, this is the deal breaker for the Fiskar for luthier type work IMO. It's hard to explain - but the 3 parts of the chuck are adjustable in the drill head are "pointed". With larger drill bits, this probably works fine. However, with small drill bits, you have to time consumingly manually align the drill bit perfectly so that the chuck catches the bit straight.

I would think small drill bits would be the main audience for a manual drill. So, it seems a serious design flaw to not have small drill bits self center in the chuck.

So, I definitely like the control of the hand drill. It actually drills the hole with minimal effort. But, I recommend a better hand drill that is better constructed that fix the problems with tightening the chuck and with centering drill bits in the chuck - likely a higher end one.

 

[Cagey]

I use a Milwaukee 2601-20 drill motor for damn near everything.

It's not as big as you might think so it's easy to handle, but at the same time it's very powerful. Plus, it uses lithium batteries (not pictured), so it holds a charge for a long time. Variable speed, reversible, adjustable clutch. Few things this unit isn't equal to. There's certainly nothing on a guitar it's not good for, from the smallest to the largest holes. Because it's so torquey, it's great around the house for other things as well.

 

[Updown]

I just bought a new set of these ... http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202922366/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=Dewalt+drills&storeId=10051#.UShPtY4zgUU
Very happy with them.  :icon_thumright:

My old set (different make) finally died, after many many years of abuse.